1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus, an image processing apparatus, a printer, a communication system, a printing system, a communication method and an image processing method for executing data transfer between devices in one-to-one relationship through a serial interface such as IEEE1394, and a storage medium storing process steps for executing such methods in computer readable manner.
2. Related Background Art
For example for printing an image photographed with a digital camera by a printer, there is already known a method utilizing a personal computer (PC).
In such method, a PC and a digital camera are connected by a serial interface (such as RS-232C) and the PC and a printer are connected by a parallel interface (such as Centronics).
Then the photographed image is transferred from the digital cameral to the PC and is thus fetched therein.
Then on such PC, the photographed image is fetched from the digital camera is processed according to the desired printing format, by an arbitrary application software functioning on the PC.
Subsequently the photographed image thus processed is transferred from the PC to the printer and is printed on the printer.
However, such output method for the photographed image utilizing PC is dependent on a fact that the user already has the PC.
Therefore, the user who does not have the PC (for example a user who does not have the PC but has purchased a digital camera) cannot print the image photographed by the digital camera on the printer unless a PC is prepared (for example by new purchasing).
For this reason, there is proposed a system (hereinafter called xe2x80x9cdirect print systemxe2x80x9d) in the form of a dye sublimation video printer, capable of directly printing the image, photographed by the digital camera, without utilizing the PC.
In such direct print system, the photographed image is transferred from the digital camera to the printer by directly connecting the digital camera with the printer, without going through the PC, by a serial interface of an independent format, or utilizing the standard IrTran-P format utilizing infrared light, or utilizing a memory card interface such as the compact flush or the smart media.
In the above-mentioned direct print system, in case the user wishes to select a photographed image to be printed on the printer, among various images photographed with the digital camera, the user connects the video output terminal of the printer to a home television unit to display a menu image (index image) in which thumbnail images (images for confirmation, each reduced to an image size of about 80xc3x9760 dots, from the actual photographed image) corresponding to the various photographed images and selects the desired photographed image on such menu image.
The menu image for confirmation and selection of the photographed images on the home television unit because a display unit capable of displaying such menu image cannot be provided on the printer itself in consideration of the cost and space.
However, the usual home television set has a relatively low resolution of about 720xc3x97480 dots in comparison with the monitors employed for the PC""s.
It is therefore difficult to confirm the photographed image by the thumbnail image displayed in the menu image on the home television set.
Also, in order to increase the number of the photographed images that can be confirmed at a time on the menu image, namely in order to increase the number of the thumbnail images that can be simultaneously displayed on the menu image, the size of each thumbnail image has to be accordingly made smaller, so that the confirmation of the photographed image becomes more difficult.
Therefore, the number of the photographed images that can be confirmed at a time on the menu is inevitably limited.
Instead, it is conceivable to display the menu image on the liquid crystal display unit provided on the digital camera, but, because such liquid crystal display unit has a small image size with a low resolution, the number of the photographed image which can be confirmed at a time is still limited in such configuration.
The above-mentioned limitation in the number of the photographed images which can be confirmed at a time is very inconvenient in the recent situation where the number of the photographed images that can be accumulated in the digital camera has become large with the increase in the memory size provided in the digital camera and it is requested to accordingly increase the number of the photographed images which can be confirmed at a time thereby enabling efficient confirmation and selection of the photographed images.
For this reason, there is provided a method of printing a list of thumbnail images (index print) of the photographed images, instead of displaying the menu image, for confirmation and selection of the photographed images, on the home television set or the liquid crystal display unit of the digital camera.
Thus the user is enabled to confirm all the photographed images accumulated in the digital camera and to select the photographed image desired for actual print.
More specifically, in the digital camera, the photographed images are stored as an image file in an image file format such as EXIF or CIFF, together with the corresponding thumbnail images.
In order to extract all the thumbnail images only from such image file and to print a list of such thumbnail images, there are executed following first to fourth processes.
first process: All the image file retained in the digital camera is transferred to the printer;
second process: Then, in the printer, the thumbnail images only are extracted from the image file;
third process: There is generated a list image of the thumbnail images extracted in the second process; and
fourth process: Then the list image generated in the third process is printed.
However, in the above-described method of printing all the photographed images retained in the digital camera as a list (index print) of the corresponding thumbnail images through the aforementioned first to fourth processes for the purpose of confirmation and selection of such photographed images, there is required a significant burden with a long time in the data transfer between the digital camera and the printer and in the image processing (generation of the list image of the thumbnail images) and the printing process executed in the printer.
An object of the present invention is to resolve all the above-mentioned drawbacks or at least one thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus or a communication apparatus capable of easily and efficiently confirming the information present in a first device and easily and efficiently selecting desired information among such existing information.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained, according to the present invention, by a communication apparatus comprising a communication unit for fetching format of held information held in another device by communication therewith; and a control unit for controlling the fetching of the held information based on the format of the held information, fetched from the another device.
Still another object of the present invention is to easily and efficiently confirm information present in a first device thereby reducing the process time.
The above-mentioned object can be attained, according to the present invention, by an image processing apparatus capable of fetching image information held in another device through a communication unit, comprising an information fetching unit for executing information fetching process of image information from the aforementioned another device based on the format information of the held image information informed from the aforementioned another device; an information generation unit for generating index information in which plural image information fetched by the information fetching unit are arranged in an arbitrary order; an outline extraction unit for applying an outline extraction process on the image information constituting the index information generated by the information generation unit; and an information output unit for outputting the index information after processing by the outline extraction unit.
Still other objects of the present invention, and the features thereof, will become fully apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments, to be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.